Rick O'Connell - A loving husband and father
by JamBerry
Summary: Ever wondered what made Rick so tough that he could take on 2 mummies or at least the same one twice! This covers Rick's abusive childhood and the impact it makes to the O'Connell family. Oh! And why did he kiss Evy whilst in prison?


**Rick O'Connell – A loving husband and loving father. May your adventures continue.**

1926

The lost city of Hamunaptra collapsed into dust.

Jonathan sighed "Well, I guess we go home empty handed. Again."

Rick stared lovingly into Evy's eyes "I wouldn't say that."

* * *

Rick and Evy was on a sailing boat in the middle of the Red Sea. They were enjoying the profit they had made on selling the ancient Egyptian artifacts that they had found in the saddle bags of the camels that they had rode on from Hamunaptra. At first, the museum had tried to confiscate the items but Rick had managed to persuade them otherwise.

As the sunset behind them Rick had come over all bashful and bent down on one knee.

"Miss Evelyn Carnahan, would you please do me the honour of marrying me?" he held out a gold Egyptian ring.

Evy bit her lip. She had been sure that Rick was not the marrying kind. They hadn't yet slept together and she was wondering if this was what was driving him to ask her for her hand in marriage. What if she said yes, did the deed and then was gone. "Rick, are you sure? Isn't this too soon?"

Rick could guess what Evy was thinking. "Evy, I'll always be complete scoundrel but I swear …"

"Mister O'Connell, can you look me in the eye, and guarantee me that this isn't all some kind of a flimflam?"

"Evy, I wanted you to be my wife ever since you saved my life. Please just say yes. Trust me."

"Mister O'Connell, I accept your proposal of marriage on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You sell that death trap of a motorcycle."

"Deal, though I can now afford another one."

"I guess we now have a new contract."

"One that I'll never terminate even if you do wake up another mummy."

"Though traditionally you should have asked Jonathan for permission."

"I did."

"What did he say?"

"That he didn't think that four camels would cut it this time." Evy laughed. Rick kissed her. "Now, do you call that a kiss?"

Evy nodded and continued kissing her would be husband. "By the way, why did you kiss me back then?"

"Evy, how could I not?"

Rick never felt worthy of Evy and wanted to marry her before she slipped through his fingers. During their stay in Cairo, he was waiting for the day that Evy would meet a man that matched her childhood ideal – a man with the collective works of Egyptology stored in his mind and who was dashing in tweed and spectacles. Of course, Rick wouldn't have given Evy up without a fight but he would never make Evy unhappy by forcing her to stay with him. Rick's hope for them laid in his belief that Evy had a big heart which ensured her continued love for her brother who just like him was a scoundrel.

* * *

Rick was watching Evy sleep. He remembered when he first saw her. An innocent, intelligent, spirited, beautiful but modest woman. During that prison visit, Evy was a breath of fresh air in a place that had no innocence left in it. He would've hung and then gone straight to hell. He had never lived an honest life. Rick had kissed her - the last bit of virtue that he would see in this world or the next - something he would cling on to. In Evy, he had been given a second chance.

Rick felt that Evy needed him to protect her from the evils of the world and not just the living dead. He had taught her how to throw a punch, to drink and to shoot. Together they made a home in England and also made frequent trips to far off places to uncover the mysteries of the ancient world (as Evy would say but in his mind treasure). Deep down he knew that Evy still saw herself as a librarian but to him she was now more the explorer who had given an old gunfighter a new purpose in life.

That night, Evy had told him that she was pregnant. Of course, he reassured her by seeming overjoyed at the idea of being a father rather than be what he truly was - terrified. Hell, he would rather face Imhotep all over again than be a father. Rick got up from the bed, kissed Evy on the forehead and went to the lounge where he poured himself a large glass of bourbon.

Evy woke up. She wasn't surprised that Rick was gone as he often woke up early. She was surprised that Rick was drunk and for the first time for as long as she had known him looked vulnerable.

Rick mumbled "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Evy tentatively asked "It's about the baby isn't it?"

A simple "Yes" was Rick's reply followed by the question that was worrying him deeply "What type of father could I be?"

"A good one."

"You found me hanging at the end of a rope. There's a reason to why I got there. Can you ever see the bad in someone?"

"Well, of course I can if the occasion calls for it."

"Trust me. It calls for it. There's two of you now to think of."

"I don't need to protect myself or my baby from you. What makes you think you could hurt us?"

"I don't know what's it's like to have family."

Evy had never pried into Rick's past. She suspected something had happened to him to make him the way he was - a survivor. She knew he was more comfortable with someone or something trying to kill him than go to a museum function in a tux. But she believed it was best to live for the present and future until Rick was ready to tell her his past. Evy sat down by her husband's legs and laid her head in his lap. Rick stroked her face.

"Rick, you once said "I only gamble with my life, never my money" why does your own life mean so little to you."

"It's a long story"

"I won't think any less of you. I promise."

"Where do I start?"

"From the beginning. Tell me about your childhood and go on from there"

"Fine. I was born in Chicago, Illinois. My mother and I lived there whilst my father worked in Egypt. My father had married my mother for her fortune. My grandmother was Egyptian so he had connections over there that was useful to the American Government. My mother was both beautiful and kind. She would get lonely at times and have gentlemen over to pass the time. There were rumours that I was a bastard. As I grew up I got into many fights protecting my mother's name. My father heard of these rumours on one of his few and far between visits home. When my father returned to Egypt we went with him. My father and I never got on, mostly he just ignored me, so when he left me and my mother when I was ten I didn't miss him. I heard from the maid that he got in deep with a secret Egyptian society and had run off. He took everything with him – my mother died shortly after - I couldn't provide enough to save her. If I thought it was bad then – it was about to get worse. I was sent to an orphanage in Cairo. The kids there had to be tough and cunning or they died. There wasn't enough food to good round, the kids were made to work for their keep and the only way the minders could keep control was to beat them. The punishments there were harsh."

Evy had tears in her eyes. She had seen Rick take a beating and now she knew that he learnt this lesson when he was just a boy. "Rick, are those scars on your back from when you were there?"

"Some. I was mostly fine - healthier in mind, body and spirit than most kids who had been there. I know some of the girls were particularly misused. If anything, the harshest treatment I received were from the other kids who hated that I was treated relatively well by the minders since I was an Amercian and could at any point be claimed for. The authorities were looking for folks in America who were willing to take me in. It just took some time. When I and some others reached manhood we were judged on whether or not we should be trained to take part in organised fights. It was unheard of for a foreigner to be picked but the man insisted. I didn't know what was going on, only that I was given a tattoo on my wrist and extra rations in order to fight. Finally, my uncle claimed responsibility. I was shipped back to America and went straight into boarding school. I never met the man. I couldn't settle down. I saw a way out by lying about my age and joining the army to fight in France during the World War. I was good at soldiering or at least trained in it at the orphanage so when the war came to an end I was at a lost at what to do. I didn't go back to America - there was nothing for me there. I bummed around Europe living on odd jobs. It didn't take me long to fall into a gang and live a less than honest life style. That kind of life comes to an end quickly – it was either jail or join the French Foreign Legion. It was with the Foreign Legion that I ended up in Hamunaptra, we were outnumbered by the Tuareg warriors and I was only one who made it out alive. I then walked across the Sahara desert to make it back to civilisation. Three years later, I was in a traven when an Englishman picked my pocket and a fight broke out . The Englishman escaped and I was charged for desertion." Rick chuckled at that bit of his life story.

"Oh, Jonathan!"

"A puzzle box for his sister doesn't seem like a bad trade."

"Are you forgetting about the mummy, scarab beetles …"

"All worth it." Rick kissed Evy on her forehead again and then sighed. "So now you know."

"I know that my husband is very kind, very strong and very smart. Now, I know why. I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"Don't be" Rick gazed into Evy's eyes in wonder.

"You're still wondering, 'Why I married you?' aren't you?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"I've dreamt about the life you having giving me since I was a little girl. I couldn't be happier. A home, a husband, a baby …

"Well I guess that's better than dreaming about dead guys." Rick wrapped his arms around Evy who kissed him as if her life depended on it.

* * *

1933

Rick, Alex and Evy had returned from Egypt. They had got Alex back, after he had been kidnapped by Anck-su-namun and Imhotep. Rick was now watching Alex like a hawk, never letting him out of his sight for a few moments. If the cat so much as made a noise Rick was on the alert. Evy saw how Rick blamed himself for Alex's kidnapping and her stabbing by Anck-su-namun.

Rick woke up to Evy crying.

"What's wrong, Evy? You're safe. Alex is safe now. He's here with us and sleeping in his bed."

"Well you would know since you check on him every hour on the hour. I wasn't thinking about Alex. Well I guess I was. How we got him back because of you. That he'll – no, we'll – will always be safe because of you."

"If that's makes you upset …"

"No Rick. Please listen. Alex is so much like you - devilishly charming. I was imagining you at his age in the orphanage. That there was no-one there to make you safe. You didn't deserve that. You would never leave Alex – no matter what."

"I know my father was an ass, Evy. But as you say 'nasty little fellows such as him always get their comeuppance.' Plus, I was never like Alex. He's drives me crazy but he's a good kid."

"So were you Rick."

Rick almost snorted in disbelief. "I got Alex back, Evy. I'm trying. I want to be a good husband and a good father. What more do want from me, Evy?"

"I want you to realise that you already are a great father and an even better husband. Today, not tomorrow or a year from now. I want you know that you are a good man. That what happened to us wasn't your fault. You didn't drop the ball. When are you going to see yourself for how you truly are?"

"Wasn't it you who said patience is a virtue."

"Not on this it isn't. Rick, you can't always be there to protect him. When he's older, he has to make his own decisions and he'll make mistakes. If you don't give him his space you'll push him away. I know this is different but father in the end alienated Jonathan. I don't want the same to happen because you're a good man with a need to protect us" Evy sighed realising that she wasn't going to get anywhere with Rick that night or maybe any other night. Evy kissed him "What are you doing in the morning darling? I have to go to the museum."

"I'm gonna try fishing"

"Well, at least that might be a hobby that doesn't involve guns. Though I can understand why clay pigeon shooting may bore you."

They kissed and as Evy fell asleep in Rick's arms, Rick said "I'm sorry, Evy".

* * *

1945

Alex had unearthed the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin - a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago. The O'Connells had thwarted the emperor's plan to enslave the entire human race.

Evy remembered how she had watched as her son and husband talked – Alex finally appreciating and accepting who his father was. Rick had just recovered from a stab wound to the chest – a wound that could had been so easily Alex's if Rick hadn't shoved him out of the way. If Alex didn't know how lucky he was to have a father like Rick he did now. Alex now knew that his father was mortal and wouldn't be there forever. Rick may not be able to change his overprotective ways, they had been through too much for that, but Alex now knew that it was never Rick's intention to be overbearing or controlling. Evy now knew her family was whole again however imperfect they were.

* * *

1975

Evy was tending the grave of her husband, Richard O'Connell – A loving husband and father who had protected her, their son and the world from unnatural phenomena. She was proud to have been his wife and couldn't wait to join him again for adventures in the next life. In the mean time she had two grandchildren and a museum to look after which would keep her busy until it was her time to leave this mortal world.


End file.
